Learning and Discovering Through Play and Exploration

Both of my kids made this plastic bottle snowman craft in their classes this December. In their classes, they used a 2 liter soda bottle but I thought it would look neat with any sized bottle–you could make an entire family of plastic bottle snowmen from water bottles, sports drink bottles, soda bottles…any plastic bottle!
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Materials:
plastic bottle with the label removed
white tissue paper or tissues
styrofoam ball (available in craft stores)
sticks or pipe cleaners/chenille stems (for … Read entire article »

Nemo dropped about 30 inches of snow on my area, the highest totals in New York and boy was it a mess!
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The kids wanted to sled but that thing wasn’t going anywhere–sorry kids!
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At least they had a chance to measure the snowfall.
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The baby was less than thrilled. “Uh, guys, I’m sinking!’
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But my daughter pretended to be a Viking warrior princess.
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And it was quite the snowfall! Even though the snow … Read entire article »

My daughter cannot bring candy in with her Valentines so we could not use lollipop Valentines. Instead, we usually use pencils. This year, she wanted something different and we found a bag of inexpensive heart mazes at Michaels. So, we made these “A-MAZE-ing” class photo valentines.
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First I took a photo of my daughter holding a giant poster board/oak tag heart. I ‘shopped a clip art hear-shaped maze over the heart. This way, there is … Read entire article »

I thought my son was going to do the lollipop photo valentines we did last year, and the year before that for his sister. Then, he suddenly wanted superhero valentines. Superhero Lollipop Valentines. Great! No Problem! I’ll just print out these awesome free printable templates from Zakka Life and… No, wait, he wants Super Hero logos, inside hearts. And Batman needs a bat mask. And Wonder Woman needs a tiara. And Spider-Man needs his Spidey … Read entire article »

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We’ve made salt ceramic heart ornaments for the last few Valentine’s Days but I’ve never had the time to post them before! Salt ceramic is great because it is non-toxic and air dries to a nice sheen. You can color it in advance or paint once it is dry. Salt ceramic is shinier and harder than salt dough and does not need to be baked.
We have fun measuring the ingredients out, flattening the dough, … Read entire article »

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About the Author

Candace Lindemann is a published children’s writer and educational consultant. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Working with school districts around the country and some of the most well-known companies in the education industry, Candace creates custom strategies, textbooks, and lesson plans. Her articles have appeared in print and online.

While Candace’s degrees prepared her for a career in education, she’s found that the best preparation for parenting is on the job training.